This invention relates generally to medical diagnostic systems. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for acquiring and processing diagnostic data sets to identify the location of the transition between different types of tissue and between tissue and blood.
The processing of cardiac image data is of great interest to determine how the heart is functioning. Currently, many processing algorithms rely on the user to identify the data to be processed. In ultrasound, due to patient and system limitations, the user is often unable to precisely identify the location desired, such as the endocardium or epicardium. For example, the systems do not have the capability to allow the user to input precise measurements to track the minute variable contours of the tissue. In addition, the user has limited time with which to conduct the measurements.
For example, an important measurement for left ventricular function is the ejection fraction (EF), defined as the end-diastole (ED) volume minus the end-systolic (ES) volume of the left ventricle divided by ED volume. Today, this measurement is often estimated by manually drawing the endocardium at ED and ES in one or two planes. This is time consuming and the model assumes that the ventricle is symmetric along the diameter. Also, due to poor image quality in many patients, locating the volume automatically can be difficult.
Other imaging modalities also acquire cardiac images and experience the same problems. In addition, other anatomy or masses of interest, such as the liver, arteries, cysts and tumors, would benefit from the ability to more precisely identify the interface between two types of tissue.
Thus, a system and method are desired to process diagnostic data sets to identify the location of transitions within a body, that addresses the problems noted above and others previously experienced.